Yorkshire aims at youth with its cannibalistic anthem

Jolliest version yet is recorded in the sunshine of the grisly tale of the Ilkley lover whose remains...well, best to check out the lyrics for yourselfYorkshire is going through a period of extreme Yorkshireness at the moment, with a contest over the geographical centre of the county and a vast exercise in reworking the county anthem, On Ilkla Moor Baht 'At.The first issue is one we'd best transfer to our distinguished, mathematical guest-blogger Professor S.Barry Cooper of Leeds University, whose series of posts about the Alan Turing Centenary Year for the Northerner is doing very well on Twitter and the like. Quite how you determine the centre of an irregular-shaped multihedron such as the three historic ridings is way beyond a humble Grade 6-er at elementary maths O level, which is what I am.The contestants include the Ordnance Survey, which has triggered the current discussion by suggesting that the honour goes to a field in Sessay, an otherwise modest community in the flatlands north of York. Then there's a similar computer-based exercise done in 2008 which came down on the side of Cattal, another quiet village not far off. And the outsider is Barkston Ash near Selby, which bases its claim on traditions surrounding its eponymous series of ancient trees.The Yorkshire Ridings Society is staying carefully neutral, backing none of the claims so far and adding an appealing hint of paranormal Tykery with the suggestion that the centre, like glaciers and the county's eroding coastline, may be 'moving about.' Sessay and Hutton parish council, one of no fewer than 631 in North Yorkshire, is also treating its potential claim to fame circumspectly. The question of whether to celebrate the OS finding officially is on the agenda of the next meeting but Coun Roger Hildreth says: I think we want to be cautious at to what we do because if it changes, and we have paid for a sign to say we are the centre of Yorkshire, we are going to look very silly.Meanwhile the Yorkshire-born gods, or God, beamed down on hundreds of people who turned up at the Cow and the Calf to for the Ilka Moor rejig, which also involves soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment, a rap with Brian Blessed, soprano Lesley Garrett, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Fame Academy star Alistair Griffin and the Yorkshire choir Rock Up and Sing. The idea is to introduce the grisly hymn about a jilted lover's cannibalistic revenge to a 'new young global audience', somewhat on the lines of Coca Cola's I'd like to teach the world to sing.The new version is being overseen by Eliot Kennedy from Sheffield, a songwriter and artistic producer on the X Factor who has got together with the tourism people at Welcome to Yorkshire. He says: Ilka Moor is a beautiful song, a gorgeous song, you can't help sing along. It's been in my head all the time since we started this project. I think this song will last for decades. It's going to stand the test of time. I'm putting as much love and energy into this as any other record I do.Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire adds: We're proud to be breathing new life into Yorkshire's national anthem. We hope it will capture the hearts of not only everyone in Yorkshire but also the UK and world-wideThe idea followed a survey by Otley brass band which found that one in ten of under-18s in the UK had never heard of the song. Once they discover that its hero dies of pneumonia after an illicit night of sex on the wuthering moor, is buried and eaten by worms, which are then eaten by ducks which then end up on the dinner plates of his rival suitors, this should change.The recording will be on YouTube later this year and you can follow its progress on Facebook here and Twitter here. Meanwhile here's a YouTube clip of Blessed getting stuck in, courtesy of the Sheffield Star. All profits from the song will go to the Yorkshire Regiment's charity arm and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.The X FactorYorkshireTourism, transport and travelFolk musicHeritageYoung peopleRural affairsSheffieldBradfordUniversity of LeedsMartin Wainwrightguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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